Rohv the Usurper
Master Rohv is a Council Master in the Order of Shadows. She was formerly known as Darth Rohv, but was born Aela Benxi. Biography Short Childhood Aela Benxi was a twi’lek born on a moisture farm on Tatooine to two loving, if poor, parents. For the first twenty years of her life, she helped them on the farm and was particularly good at taming and training the various animals they raised there. Not long after her twentieth birthday, the farm was hit by Tusken Raiders while she was on an errand. She soon fled the planet, stowing away on a fancy but poorly-guarded ship. Unexpected Career She was discovered by the ship’s owner, another twi’lek named Nyx Alette. Nyx took pity on Aela and offered her a job. Nyx ran a brothel on Rishi and at first Aela was offended by the offer, but Nyx told her she could have any job she wanted there, even if it was just in the kitchens. Aela had no other options and grudgingly accepted. Over the next five years, Aela learned the operations of the brothel quickly and ended up helping Nyx run its affairs, which Nyx revealed was her plan almost from the beginning. Aela had shown a talent very early in her time with Nyx for knowing a customer’s or employee’s needs almost before they did, as well as for finding creative solutions to the problems that inevitably arose in their line of work. Business and Love Shortly after this revelation, Nyx announced her retirement and asked Aela to take over operations. Aela agreed, and in another two years made her brothel one of the most successful businesses on Rishi. She had saved up enough money to buy a sizeable freighter and refurbished it into a mobile brothel in order to expand her business’s reach. Aela had been running her brothel ship for two years when she pulled the ship into port for maintenance and met a man at the spaceport bar. She quickly fell in love with Sal Vantu and they discovered they both had skills that opened up “extra-legal” career opportunities. Her empathic abilities were incredible - and, she suspected, Force-based - and Sal’s slicing and programming skills made him an excellent hacker. They founded a crime syndicate and simply named it the “Foundation.” Kidnapped and Turned Four years into their marriage and partnership, Aela’s brothel received a problematic customer. Several girls were sent to serve him, and each quickly departed looking pale and unsettled. Aela went to investigate who was terrorizing her staff and realized that the man hadn’t needed to do anything to achieve the effect he’d had. The entire room he occupied had an aura of deep foreboding and her every instinct screamed at her to run, but the businesswoman in her refused to lose the money this man had promised. She attempted to serve him by forming an empathic bond, and the moment she did she knew she’d made a mistake. Through the connection, the fear and danger she’d sensed on entering the room multiplied, and she knew this man was evil. Worse than that, for the first time since she’d learned to use it, the bond seemed to work in two directions. She felt the man‘s mind combing through her thoughts and she screamed until her vision turned black. She woke up in an unfamiliar room. The man had kidnapped her and they were presently on their way to the Sith Empire. He revealed himself as Darth Rohv, a Sith and agent of the Empire sent to evaluate the brothel ship Aela ran for capture and repurposing. When he discovered her Force abilities and potential, however, he deemed her the more worthy target. She was tortured for months on end, slowly turning her to the Dark Side against her will. Eventually she succumbed and became Darth Rohv’s apprentice. Unlike most Sith, Darth Rohv had little ambition. He was satisfied to serve the Empire as he was told to and had only obtained the title of Darth through hard work and talent rather than the typical conniving and scheming. Aela accompanied him on his missions, which included a surprising variety of goals from sabotage to diplomacy to pure, unadulterated slaughter. Becoming Darth Rohv Under Rohv’s guidance, she soon attained the rank of Lord and found herself working lower-priority but equally-widespread missions in the fashion of her master. On one particular mission, she was unknowingly pitted against Rohv himself due to the infighting of higher-ranking Darths. When she and Rohv came face-to-face, she tried to stop the fight. Rohv, however, had been given a mission and would not relent. Utilizing the training she’d gotten from him and her empathic ability to predict a person’s desires and movements, Aela slew her former master, begrudgingly following one of the Sith’s most treasured traditions. For her success in her mission and for besting a Darth, Aela was promoted again. When choosing her Darth name, she insisted she be called Darth Rohv, both to honor her master and to cement herself as the one who had finally bested him. She took over his missions and earned a name for herself with her cold brutality and success rate, though her choice to take her mentor’s name earned her the derisive title, “The Usurper” and she was a pariah among her fellow Sith. For around a decade, Rohv lost herself in her work until she heard a rumor that a fledgling crime syndicate called the Foundation had been decimated by a Hutt family. Abandoning her mission, Rohv frantically searched for any sign of her former husband. Finding nothing but ashes and blood, she collapsed and screamed at herself for the time she wasted not looking for Sal. Redemption Realizing that the Sith had taken everything her adult life had brought her, she abandoned the Empire entirely and turned herself in to the Jedi on Alderaan and asked to be trained in the Light. Her Dark nature made them hesitate, but her empathic abilities and Force prowess made her too valuable an asset. She was made a padawan and given strict duties, which she attended to greatfully. Over time, however, she became discontented with the Jedi’s conduct against the Empire. The Sith, she argued, wouldn’t hesitate to kill their own if it meant attaining a great victory, yet the Jedi would barely condone killing their enemies. The Council tried to clamp down on these protests early, but she realized she wasn’t the only one saying it. A Jedi Master named Jec Ory was arguing the same point, and still the Council ignored him. Rohv befriended him and attempted to help him make his case. In one heated argument, he revealed that he’d used Dark Side powers without turning as evidence that the Jedi need not lose their way by becoming more aggressive. The Council ignored his argument and heard only that he’d been “tempted,” and they threatened him with exile. Schism Master Ory chose instead to leave the Order voluntarily, and Rohv went with him. Together they founded their own order, the Order of Shadows - so named to remind them and any who followed where their path would lead. Under the now Grandmaster Ory, Rohv became a Master and Council Member to help Grandmaster Ory grow their fledgling organization... Personality and Traits Before the death of her parents, Rohv was a happy-go-lucky child who was often hungry but content. Her family’s murder at the hands of Tusken Raiders turned her somewhat more somber, though her friendship and apprenticeship to Nyx Alette helped her open up again - though she hates Tusken Raiders to this day. Her time as a brothel owner was the happiest of her life, especially after marrying and joining forces with Sal Vantu. Her kidnap by, and eventual murder of, the previous Darth Rohv built her into a closed-off and relatively silent figure, though her impressive height and muscular build often filled in the blanks. She prefered to speak with actions rather than words, but when needed was eloquent in her own way. Her insight as an independent-turned-Sith-turned-Jedi-turned-Gray was invaluable to the Order of Shadows, giving her the knowledge and skills necessary to understand, train, and sometimes control the more Dark Side-inclined members of the Order. Powers and Abilities Rohv was primarily a warrior, with the physical and Force skills that went with that. However, her unique bonding ability and her time as Darth Rohv granted her an impressive array of skills. Empathic Bond Rohv’s empathic ability was unique in that it appeared to be more predictive than typical empathy. She combined an innate sense for what others felt and needed with slight precognition, allowing her to sense what others would soon be feeling rather than just what they felt at the time. This allowed her to predict her opponents, both on the battlefield and across the council chambers. Melee Weapon Combat Perhaps her most-used skill next to her Empathic abilities, Rohv‘s talents with blades made her a master duelist and an artist with her warblade. Though her Sith superiors often encouraged her to wield a saber, she chose instead to forge a Force-imbued metal blade in the ancient Sith traditions, binding it to her very soul. This union made her blade an extension of her body and mind, both, allowing for perfect harmony between weapon and warrior. Telekinesis Rohv displayed an aptitude for most common Force-skills including the staple of moving objects with the Force. She was able to move immense boulders and medium-sized vehicles with nothing but her mind, though it required some concentration and would distract her if in mid-battle. She also utilized these abilities to perform powerful Force-chokes and Force-pushes. Force-Leap Similarly to her telekinetic abilities, Rohv had a powerful Force-leap ability that made her incredibly mobile, even on foot. Force Lightning While most Dark Side users were able to conjure lightning, Rohv preferred imbuing her blade with Force lightning just before a battle, making near-misses painful and damaging despite the lack of direct contact. Energy Absorption One of Rohv's rarer abilities was the ability to absorb energy at will, though for a limited time and only a limited amount. This allowed her to absorb the energy attacks and either reflect it or even use it to speed her healing processes.